On May 21, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful announced it has received a a $10,000 grant from Keep America Beautiful to continue their work with the Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, the nation’s largest program aimed at reducing cigarette litter.
This is the ninth year that KPB received funding from the national organization.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful will partner with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources focusing on Pennsylvania State Parks with recreational lakes and tributaries to the Delaware River and Bay.
The parks included in the 2019 CLPP grant are Benjamin Rush [Philadelphia], Nockamixon [Bucks County], Ridley Creek [Delaware County] and Tyler [Bucks County] State Parks.
To combat against litter, the program advocates that participating communities use four approaches: encourage enforcement of litter laws, including cigarette litter; raise awareness about the issue; place ash receptacles in places like entrances to public buildings; and distribute portable ashtrays to smokers.
“Pennsylvania’s state parks are recreational treasures for residents and visitors of Pennsylvania. Each year, 38 million people visit the 200,00 acres to explore and reconnect with nature,” said Shannon Reiter, President of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. “We can not think of a better place than Pennsylvania’s state parks to implement the Cigarette Litter Prevention program. Thanks to Keep America Beautiful, we can continue to invest in this highly effective program.”
In 2018, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful also collaborated with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to implement the CLPP program at Point State Park, Linn Run, Laurel Summit, Laurel Ridge, Oil Creek and Yellow Creek State Parks, all offer recreational lakes, whitewater rafting, canoeing, kayaking as well as and thousands of miles of hiking trails.
The final scan, performed after the installation of ash receptacles, education implementation and the distribution of portable ashtrays, documented a reduction rate of 81 percent.
“Litter is both the smallest and largest problem at the same time,” said Jerred Jones, program director for the CLPP. “Keep America Beautiful believes that many of our social ills begin with litter. Access to ash receptacles and portable pocket ashtrays are crucial to changing littering behaviors.”
The CLPP, created by Keep America Beautiful in 2002, is the nation's largest program aimed at eliminating cigarette butt and cigar tip litter. Since its inception, the program has been successfully implemented in more than 1,800 urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide.
Over the past decade, participating communities have consistently cut cigarette butt litter by 50 percent based on local measurements taken in the first four months to six months after program implementation.
Visit KPB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program for more.
For more information on programs, initiatives and special events, visit the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful website. Click Here to become a member. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from KPB, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Discover them on Pinterest and visit their YouTube Channel.
Also visit the Illegal Dump Free PA website for more ideas on how to clean up communities and keep them clean and KPB’s Electronics Waste website.
Sign up now for the 2019 Great American Cleanup of PA and volunteer or set up your own cleanup and beautification event runs through May 31.
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